I am absolutely uneducated in economics, so I have very little to say other than as an atheist the whole idea of an “invisible hand” has always made me a little uneasy.

Yeah, I think that’s why Elinor Ostrom and Oliver Williamson shared a Nobel Prize in 2009. Ostrom believes that neither govt nor privatization can solve commons issues. Williamson concentrates on how corporations differ from markets in terms of conflict resolution. He notes that corporations can be very efficient but are prone to abuse of power as they lobby politicians to eliminate competition. So much for an invisible hand.

Of course the problems today are rather different from the days of Adam Smith.

There was no “planned obsolescence” going on continuously when The Wealth of Nations was published. Adam Smith didn’t have to worry about children of his day being brainwashed with Freudian psychology via television.

Now we must wonder if the Invisible Hand has been chopped off.

Try finding an economist who can supply you with the statistics on how much Americans have lost on the depreciation of automobiles every year since the Moon landing. Adam Smith didn’t have to think about that either.

Of course the problems today are rather different from the days of Adam Smith.

There was no “planned obsolescence” going on continuously when The Wealth of Nations was published. Adam Smith didn’t have to worry about children of his day being brainwashed with Freudian psychology via television.

Now we must wonder if the Invisible Hand has been chopped off.

Try finding an economist who can supply you with the statistics on how much Americans have lost on the depreciation of automobiles every year since the Moon landing. Adam Smith didn’t have to think about that either.

psik

Yea, life’s gotten more complicated since then. Still folks think those ancient intellectual notions will guide us into the future.
We’ve seen what a disaster that’s been these past decades.

Of course the problems today are rather different from the days of Adam Smith.

There was no “planned obsolescence” going on continuously when The Wealth of Nations was published.

Psik, I think I’ve responded to this from you before but I don’t think you’re responded to me. Planned obsolescence is not widespread because it is a losing strategy when you have competitors!

Adam Smith didn’t have to worry about children of his day being brainwashed with Freudian psychology via television.

But…Freudian psychology has been largely disregarded as incorrect. I don’t see this brainwashing could work. Or do you mean children are being brainwashed into thinking Freudian psychology is still valid?

Signature

“What people do is they confuse cynicism with skepticism. Cynicism is ‘you can’t change anything, everything sucks, there’s no point to anything.’ Skepticism is, ‘well, I’m not so sure.’” -Bill Nye